CuO Encapsulated in Mesoporous Silica SBA-15 Used as Heterogeneous Catalyst for Synthesis of Aldimines

Today, the importance of electron deficient imines such as sulfonyl imines is well known as a key intermediate in various chemical reactions. The applicability as anticancer agent, anti-inflammatory nature, antifungal and antibacterial behavior, affirm the importance of their biological rule also. The electrophilic nature, relative stability and reactivity of these electron deficient imines give rise to use them for preparation of various nitrogen containing compounds. So, the significance of designing the fruitful methods for producing imines has attracted a great deal of attention in recent years [1]. Other side, supported nanometals are one of the most important categories of heterogeneous catalysts with broad applications in the industry. According to the literature, some materials, such as SBA-15, MCM-41 and zeolite were applied for preparation of metal nanoparticles [2,3]. Here in, different nanomaterial such as CuO, SBA-15, and CuO-SBA-15 were synthesized in different ways, and then in a simple, clean and efficient process, aldimines were afforded by reaction of diverse aldehydes and sulfonamide in presence of prepared heterogeneous nanocatalysts under reflux condition (Scheme 1). The desired products were produced in high yields. After each reaction, the heterogeneous catalyst was separated and reused in other reaction cycles.